Jerome Valcke confirms Fifa’s disciplinary committee took Suarez’s previous
biting offences into account when deciding the length of his suspension

Luis Suarez should seek treatment for his biting, according to the Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke.

“I think he should find a way to stop doing it,’’ said Valcke, speaking at the Maracana. “He should go through treatment. It is definitely wrong. If it's the first time it's an incident, if it is more than once it is not an incident. That is why the ban was exemplary.’’

Fifa’s disciplinary committee took Suarez’s previous biting offences, on Otman Bakkal and Branislav Ivanovic as well this week’s one on Giorgio Chiellini, into account when deciding the length of his suspension.

Suarez has been banned for nine competitive internationals and for a four-month period of “all football activity”, although that does not preclude negotiating a transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona.

The committee viewed extensive video footage. “With 34 cameras there is not much that can disappear,’’ added Valcke. “It is part of Fifa's rules that you can use this video footage to make a decision. They made a decision that this was something far beyond the fair play and the attitude you can have during the World Cup.

“The 23 players of the 32 teams have to show the best of the best because they are an example for the rest of the world. I applaud the decision made by the committee to sanction the player because what he did was unacceptable and that is not the image we want to give to the world.”

Chiellini said the punishment was excessive. “Yes but you will always find someone who says it is excessive,’’ added Valcke. “There are other people who say it was excessive, but so what? These are decisions from the disciplinary committee based on what they have seen. It is not just about this incident, it was seen by hundreds of millions of people. It is not what you want your kids, the little ones who are playing football all around the world, to see when football is being played at the level of the World Cup. This could be any football game. Amateur football, professional football. It is not what you do.’’

Valcke dismissed the suggestion that Liverpool were also being punished although they may have to accept a reduced fee or will be without the player until mid-October.

“It is not Liverpool who have been punished, it is the player who has been punished. They took into account the past behaviour of Luis Suarez. They made a decision based on the evidence of what Suarez had done.”

As for calls for Fifa to ban Suarez’s Liverpool-mate, Mamadou Sakho, for an apparent elbow on Ecuador’s Oswaldo Minda. “There was no reason to open a case against Sahko,’’ said Valcke.

Of the Ghana money controversy, Valcke said that the cash convoy was not a great image for football and that "bank transfer" to players owed money by their federation would be more preferable in the future.